


Acceptance

by JinkyO



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:25:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5998777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinkyO/pseuds/JinkyO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaw helps Root patch herself up after one of her mysterious solo missions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kokiyas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokiyas/gifts).



Shaw shivered herself awake. She pried her eyes open and squinted at the the display on her phone that read 3:28 am. The main platform of the subway station headquarters was dim but the work car glowed with light. Bear had obviously found more interesting company for the night.

Dammit, Finch, she muttered as she rolled off the narrow cot and shoved her socked feet into her boots. She yanked the blanket up and slung it over her shoulders before walking over to the make-shift office. Even if he didn't need sleep, she did. How else was she going to keep up with her busy schedule of hiding from Martine and the rest of Greer's freaks?

"Do you know what time it is?" she groused as she stepped inside, only to be met by a scene that stopped her in her tracks.

"I tried to keep it down," Root answered, her head bowed. Her dark curls obscured her forearm as she taped the gauze into place. Satisfied, she tossed her head back and offered Shaw a wan smile. "It looks worse than it is."

Shaw took in the bloodied gauze wadded atop the counter and followed the heavy trail of blood back down to the floor of the car, back to where she stood in the doorway. Root's jacket lay across the hard plastic seats, a matted blonde wig sat atop it, and Bear lay under the seats, his ears pricked forward.

"What happened?" Shaw asked as she stepped into the car. She dropped her blanket down next to Root's things before sidestepping the blood to join Root.

This time Root's smile sparked mischievously and she shrugged. "I miscounted."

"Harold's going to pitch a fit when he sees that you bled all over his precious computers," Shaw said. She eyed Root's bandage for a moment then reached into the medical cabinet for a pair of gloves. "Don't you have a home where you could have done this?"

"You know the saying, home is where the heart is." Root slowly flexed her arm out across the counter for Shaw's inspection. "Still, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's a little late for that," Shaw said with a scowl. She prodded the taped edges gently. "You should have called me before you went out. You need back-up, especially if the Machine's gonna' leave you high and dry like this."

"So you do care?"

"I didn't say that. We're short-handed. The last thing any of us needs is for your ass to end up on a slab."

"I see," Root purred. "You're worried about my ass?"

Shaw straightened up and rolled her eyes.  "Whatever,"  she muttered and turned for the cabinet again to yank a plastic bag off the shelf. Sure, it was a nice ass, but the point was, Root shouldn't be out on jobs by herself, Shaw thought as she dumped the used prep wipes, gauze, and suture and needle into the trash. "So? Stab or gunshot?" she asked finally, knotting the bag with more force than needed.

"Knife," Root said softly.

Shaw pursed her lips and glanced up to the overhead lights, focusing on anything but Root's face for a moment. "Take the blanket," she said finally. "Go lay down. I've got to mop up this mess."

"I'm fine, Sameen. It's just a..."

Eyes narrowing, Shaw raised a finger. "Don't."

A slow smile blossomed over Root's lips. Shaw held herself still as Root brushed past her to retrieve the blanket and her jacket.

"Keep your socks on," Shaw added. "Rats."

Root's eyes went wide and her good arm tightened around Shaw's blanket. "I could always stay here and help."

"Go." Shaw slapped her thigh and caught Bear's eye. "Bewaken," she murmured, cocking her head towards Root. She waited, listening as Bear led Root back to her cot in the niche behind the car. For the time being, the cot, the little shelf, and the 13 inch television set-up was home. She'd lived in worse.

Once she heard the creak of the cot springs settle, Shaw started cleaning. Root's blood had already begun to dry on the tiled floor and Shaw focused on the hard effort to loosen it.

So far, she had kept her promise to stay put in the subway. Now that Samaritan had a clear visual identification on her, it was too dangerous to continue her cover identity. Not that she missed the make-up counter, she thought as she wrung out the mop. She missed the action, though. Root was in the field on her own more often these days because someone had to pick up her slack.

Somehow, her thoughts had circled back to Root. That was happening more often than Shaw liked to admit, another side effect of her Samaritan imposed time out.

The floors would be dry before either of the boys came down. Shaw hefted the mop and bucket over to the drain and emptied the pink tinged water. Root's blood. What if the knife had caught her radial artery?

Dammit! Shaw slammed the janitor's closet door. She couldn't afford to have Root shaking around in her head.

Without the physical action of mopping, the subway chill was setting in again. Shaw crept back towards her "room" for more layers. Bear was asleep in his bed by her cot. Root was quiet under the blanket. Funny, in sleep, she looked like an angel from one of those classical paintings. Shaw moved carefully to pull a hoodie off the shelf. Root rolled onto her back.

"There's plenty of room, sweetie," she said in a drowsy voice as she lifted the blanket in invitation. "And I promise; I won't try anything if you don't want me to."

Shaw sighed and accepted, kicking her boots off and joining Root on the narrow cot. This was the problem.

 

 


End file.
